Twenty facts about Florida

1. Florida is located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north.
2. Total Area: 23rd among states, 155,213 sq km (59,928 sq mi).
3. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States.
4. Inventor Thomas A. Edison maintained a winter home and laboratory in Fort Myers.
5. Much of the land mass of the state is a large peninsula with the Gulf of Mexico to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east
6. St. Augustine is the oldest city in the United States.
7. It is nicknamed the "Sunshine State" because of its generally warm climate—subtropical in the northern and central regions of the state, with a true tropical climate in the southern portion.
8. Hurricane Andrew, which ripped through southeastern Florida in August 1992, killed 41 people and caused property damages in excess of $20 billion.
9. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the state population was 18,328,340 in 2008, ranking Florida as the fourth most populous state in the U.S.
10. The first U.S. earth satellite, Explorer I, was launched from the U.S. Air Force Missile Test Center at Cape Canaveral in 1958.
11. Tallahassee is the state capital, Jacksonville is the largest city, and the Miami metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan area.
12. Key West has the highest average temperature in the United States.
13. "Florida" is the oldest surviving European place-name in the United States. Juan Ponce de León, a Spanish conquistador, named the region in honor of his discovery of the land on the evening April 2, 1513, six days after Easter and still during Pascua Florida, a Spanish term for the "Flowery Easter" season, and for the land's appearance as a "flowered land."
14. Cape Canaveral is America's launch pad for space flights.
15. The seasons in Florida are determined more by precipitation than by temperature, with the hot, wet springs and summers making up the wet season, and mild to cool, and the relatively dry winters and autumns, making the dry season.
16. Fort Lauderdale is known as the Venice of America because the city has 185 miles of local waterways.
17. Gatorade was named for the University of Florida Gators where the drink was first developed.
18. The Florida Panther is the official state animal. The species is endangered, with only about 50 left in the wild.
19. The crocodile is classified as an endangered species and there are only 400 to 500 remaining in Florida.
20. The world's first scheduled commercial airline flight occurred in Florida on January 1, 1914. The flight occurred between Tampa and St. Petersburg, and traversed Tampa Bay.